Series of Earthquakes Jolt Chiayi, Including a Magnitude 5.6 Temblor

Chiayi: A series of earthquakes struck Chiayi County in southern Taiwan on Thursday morning, including a magnitude 5.6 temblor, the strongest of the quakes, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). According to Focus Taiwan, the epicenter of the magnitude 5.6 earthquake, which occurred at 10:11 a.m., was located in Dapu Township, 40.5 kilometers southeast of Chiayi County Hall, at a depth of 10 kilometers, CWA data indicated. The quake's intensity, which measures the actual effects of a seismic event, was highest in Chiayi County, where it registered 5 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. Five smaller earthquakes occurred in Dapu later in the morning: a magnitude 3.4 temblor at 10:13 a.m., a magnitude 4.3 temblor at 10:15 a.m., a magnitude 3.2 temblor at 10:21 a.m., a magnitude 3.3 at 10:21 a.m., and another magnitude 3.4 temblor at 11:20 a.m. According to the CWA's Seismological Center, the series of earthquakes are aftershocks of the magnitude 6.4 earthquake that hit Dapu on Jan. 21. More a ftershocks are expected in the coming week, the center said.